The Israelis in Gaza, like the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, are foolishly breeding the next generation of militants and Islamic radicals. Jihadists, enraged by the injustices done by Israel and the United States, seek to carry out reciprocal acts of savagery, even at the cost of their own lives. The violence unleashed on Palestinian children will, one day, be the violence unleashed on Israeli children. This is the tragedy of Gaza. This is the tragedy of Israel.Hedges interviewed the new UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, who is a former law professor from Princeton University.
The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, former Princeton University law professor Richard Falk, calls what Israel is doing to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza “a crime against humanity.” Falk, who is Jewish, has condemned the collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza as “a flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” He has asked for “the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation, and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law.”Falk, who supports further investigation into the September 11 attacks, also had this to say:
“It is macabre,” Falk said. “I don’t know of anything that exactly fits this situation. People have been referring to the Warsaw ghetto as the nearest analog in modern times.”It is definitely encouraging that there are courageous Western intellectuals like Falk around making noise in the international community about Israel-Palestine, and asking questions about the 9/11 attacks.
“There is no structure of an occupation that endured for decades and involved this kind of oppressive circumstances,” the rapporteur added. “The magnitude, the deliberateness, the violations of international humanitarian law, the impact on the health, lives and survival and the overall conditions warrant the characterization of a crime against humanity. This occupation is the direct intention by the Israeli military and civilian authorities. They are responsible and should be held accountable.”
William Pfaff, writing in his December 11 column, The Mutual Suicide Pact of Israelis and Palestinians, also cites Falk and his case that the collective seige of Palestine by Israel is a crime against humanity. Falk proposes that the Internatinoal Criminal Court should begin investigations. Pfaff warns at the end of his column that conflict over settlement of Palestinian land between extremist settlers, backed by religious fanatics, and any elected Israeli government "would threaten the moral substance of Israel and its future itself."
No state that continues to expand on blood and soil can do so forever. Unless your America and its your manifest destiny. But even the future of America is at risk. The financial bankruptcy of the American federal government is not far away. Whether it's moral or financial bankruptcy, both Israel and America are collapsing under their own weight. In the founding of both countries a fervorous mythology based on expansion and that was deeply religious emerged. It has grown ever more powerful in the preceding decades. The 'apocalypse' that religious fanatics in both countries imagine may will be the climax for both states and their supposed indestructible statehood. An American federal government, we know, cannot forever trample the desires of its people, and in a increasingly defranchised country the federal government will no longer be responsive to new emergencies and disasters. Smaller city-level states will be responsible to provide help and support, thereby making the federal state obsolete and even detrimental to the future's country prosperity. Israel's fate is not written in the same way, but its actions too are leading to a similar collapse. Its extremist settlers are heading on a death march as they approach closer each day to an unsettling conclusion. No state that continually strives to block genuine cries for freedom and diverts them underground can exist forever without punishment. As Hedges writes:
Israel seeks to break the will of the Palestinians to resist. The Israeli government has demonstrated little interest in diplomacy or a peaceful solution. The rapid expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank is an effort to thwart the possibility of a two-state solution by gobbling up vast tracts of Palestinian real estate.He is echoed by Falk:
“Israel, all along, has not been prepared to enter into diplomatic process that gives the Palestinians a viable state,” Falk said. “They [the Israelis] feel time is on their side. They feel they can create enough facts on the ground so people will come to the conclusion a viable state cannot emerge.”I will write in much more depth and clarity about Israel-Palestine and America's involvement in the coming months and years. Hopefully, I will write with more knowledge and familiarity. But forgive me, I'm not yet 20 and only beginning to fight for the cause of freedom. As for now, go and read the full columns by Pfaff here and by Hedges here
